''Superman and Batman: World's Funnest'' is an American single issue

prestige format American comic book tropes are common elements and literary devices related to American comic books. Continuity Comics continuity almost-always refers to the existence and use of a shared universe, although any comic can have internal continui ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

published in 2000 by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. It was written by

Evan Dorkin Evan Dorkin (born April 20, 1965) is an American comics artist and cartoonist. His best known works are the comic books ''Milk and Cheese'' and ''Dork'', the latter of which features his comic '' Eltingville''. His comics often poke fun at fandom ...

and illustrated by many artists. It is an

Elseworlds Elseworlds is the publication imprint (trade name), imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that take place outside the DC Universe Canon (fictional), canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realities that ...

tale and as such is not considered part of the main DC

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

/ continuity. Despite the title,

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

and

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

play only a small role in the story which stars instead Mr. Mxyzptlk and

Bat-Mite Bat-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Bat-Mite is an imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Depicted as a small, childlike man in an ill-fitting copy of Batman, Batman's costume, ...

as the main protagonists. The book pokes fun at many comic book conventions and DC heroes from the Golden through to the Modern Ages. Its setting is a multiverse similar to the Pre-''Crisis'' DCU but also includes references to other Elseworlds tales ( ''Kingdom Come'' and '' Batman: The Dark Knight Returns''), the modern DCU, the DCAU and even pays a visit to ''

Crisis on Infinite Earths ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is a 1985 to 1986 American comic book fictional crossover, crossover series published by DC Comics. Written by Marv Wolfman and penciller, pencilled by George Pérez, it was first released as a 12-issue limited ser ...

''.

Plot

The story starts in typical

Silver Age The Ages of Man are the historical stages of human existence according to Greek mythology and its subsequent interpretatio romana, Roman interpretation. Both Hesiod and Ovid offered accounts of the successive ages of humanity, which tend to pr ...

comics series ''World's Finest''-style with

and Robin handing over the

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

team of

Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

and the Joker to the authorities.

and

Mister Mxyzptlk Mister Mxyzptlk ( or ), sometimes called Mxy, is a character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is usually presented as a trickster in the classical mythological sense. Mxyzptlk possesses reality-warping powers with ...

appear simultaneously, the former to see his hero, Batman, in action, and the latter to torment Superman. As the two imps clash, Superman, Batman, Robin, Luthor, and the Joker are killed, as are all the other heroes who come to their aid (including

Batwoman Batwoman is a name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies of Batman similarly to Batgirl. The original version of the character, Kathy Kane (eventually given t ...

, Bat-Girl and

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...

, the

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

of America, the

Legion of Super-Pets The Legion of Super-Pets is a fictional team of superhero pets in the DC Universe. The original membership included Krypto, Streaky the Supercat, Beppo, and Comet, with the shape-shifting alien Proty II later joining. The team first appeared i ...

, the

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of t ...

and the

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...

). Their fight eventually consumes the Earth, the universe and even the

Phantom Zone The Phantom Zone is a prison-like parallel dimension appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is mainly associated with stories featuring Superman. It first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961), and was created b ...

. As all of that reality has been destroyed, Bat-Mite flees to

Earth-Two Earth-Two (also Earth 2) is a setting for stories (a "fictional universe") appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''The Flash'' #123 (1961), Earth-Two was created to explain differences between the original ...

pursued by Mxyzptlk. Earth-Two is in turn destroyed. The rest of the book follows the formula of each new world they encounter being destroyed in the battle between the two imps, Bat-Mite fleeing and Mxyzptlk pursuing to another world/universe which is then destroyed. In the process they generally mock the characters/comics they encounter, often breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

and lampooning how seriously people "inside" comics take themselves, given the often unbelievable or silly circumstances they encounter. Ultimately, having worked their way through to the '' Kingdom Come'' universe, Mxyzptlk simply throws a "magic bomb" at Bat-Mite who deflects it back with the helmet of ''Kingdom Come''s

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

(the only thing that survived). Both are completely exhausted and begin to laugh, admitting that the whole thing has been a lot of fun. They reset reality to the Silver Age beginning, vowing to meet again "next Tuesday". The impression is given that the preceding events are a part of a common recreational activity among magical imps.

Worlds/universes

The worlds/characters they visit include: *

Earth-One Earth-One (also Earth-1) is a name given to two fictional universes (the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of the same universe) that have appeared in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. The first Earth-One was given its name i ...

(art by

Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story " For the M ...

) * The Phantom Zone (art by

Mike Allred Michael Dalton "Mike" Allred (born 1962) is an American Comics artist, comic book artist and writer. He is most well known for his Alternative comics, independent comics creation Madman (Mike Allred character), Madman and for co-creating and dra ...

) *

(art by

Sheldon Moldoff Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff (; April 14, 1920 – February 29, 2012) was an Americans, American comics artist best known for his early work on the DC Comics characters Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and as one of Bob Kane's primary "ghost artists" (unc ...

) *

Earth-Three Earth-Three, or simply Earth-3 or Earth 3, is a “partially-reversed” Earth, where supervillainous counterparts of the mainstream DC superheroes reside. It first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #29 (August 1964), and the concept has ...

(art by

Stuart Immonen Stuart Immonen () is a Canadians, Canadian comics artist. He is best known for his work on the Marvel Comics series ''Nextwave'', ''Ultimate X-Men'', ''The New Avengers (comics), The New Avengers'', ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', and ''Ultimate Spide ...

) *

Earth-X ''Earth X'' is a 1999 comic book limited series published by American company Marvel Comics. ''Earth X'' was written by Jim Krueger with art by John Paul Leon. Based on Alex Ross' notes, the series features a dystopian version of the Marvel Un ...

(art by

Frank Cho Frank Cho (born Duk Hyun Cho; 1971) is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series '' Liberty Meadows'', as well as for books such as '' Shanna the She-Devil'', '' Mighty Avengers'' and ''Hulk'' for M ...

) *

Earth-S The Multiverse (DC Comics), DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct used in numerous DC Comics publications. The Multiverse has undergone numerous changes since its introduction and has included various universes, listed below between t ...

(art By

Jaime Hernandez Jaime (sometimes spelled Xaime) Hernandez (born 1959) is the co-creator of the alternative comic book '' Love and Rockets'' with his brothers Gilbert and Mario. Early life Jaime Hernandez grew up in Oxnard, California.Aldama, p. 119. He is the ...

) * Earth-C (art by

Scott Shaw Scott Shaw (born 23 September 1958 in Los Angeles, California) is an American author, martial artist, musician, and filmmaker. Career Scott Shaw is an advanced martial artist. He has written a number of articles and books on the martial arts a ...

) * Our reality (possibly

Earth-Prime Earth Prime (or Earth-Prime) is a term sometimes used in works of speculative fiction, most notably in DC Comics, involving parallel universes or a multiverse, and refers either to the universe containing "our" Earth, or to a parallel world with ...

) (photography) *

Jack Kirby's Fourth World "Fourth World" is a metaseries of connected comic book titles written and drawn by Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics from 1970 to 1973. Although they were not marketed under this title until the August–September 1971 issues of ''New Gods'' a ...

, specifically

Apokolips Apokolips is a fictional planet that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The planet is ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series, and is integral to many stories in the DC Universe. Apokolips is co ...

(art by

David Mazzucchelli David John Mazzucchelli (; born September 21, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer, known for his work on seminal superhero comic book storylines ''Born Again (comics), Daredevil: Born Again'' and ''Batman: Year One'', as well as for gra ...

) * The Super Friends * The DCAU (art by

Bruce Timm Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for contributing to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably as the head producer behind '' Batman: ...

) * The Fifth Dimension (Mxyzptlk negates the one condition of his magic, that saying his name backwards will send him back to the Fifth Dimension, by entirely destroying the Fifth Dimension) (art by

Jim Woodring James William Woodring (born October 11, 1952) is an American cartoonist, fine artist, writer and toy designer. He is best known for the dream-based comics he published in his magazine '' Jim'', and as the creator of the anthropomorphic cartoo ...

). * ''

The Dark Knight Returns ''The Dark Knight Returns'' (alternatively titled ''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'' but originally titled ''Batman: The Dark Knight'') is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller ...

'' (art by

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'', for which he created the character Elektra, and ...

) * The modern DCU (art by

Doug Mahnke Douglas Mahnke () is an American comic book artist, known for his work and penciller, penciling books including ''The Mask (comics), The Mask'', ''JLA (comic book), JLA'', ''Batman (comic book), Batman'', ''Final Crisis'', and ''Green Lantern (co ...

) * ''

'' (art by

Phil Jimenez Phil Jimenez (born July 12, 1970) is an American comics artist and writer known for his work as writer/artist on ''Wonder Woman (comic book), Wonder Woman'' from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005–2006 miniseries ''Infinite C ...

) *

Rip Hunter Rip Hunter (Michael Jon Carter Jr.) is a time-traveling superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jack Miller and artist Ruben Moreira, the character first appeared in ''Showcase (comics), Showcase'' #20 ...

(cameo only, art by

Ty Templeton Tyrone Templeton is a Canadians, Canadian comic book artist and writer who has drawn a number of mainstream titles, TV-associated titles, and his own series. Career Templeton first received attention for ''Stig's Inferno'' (Vortex Comics), now ...

) * The Atomic Knights (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * DC's Western Heroes (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) *

Earth-Four The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct used in numerous DC Comics publications. The Multiverse has undergone numerous changes since its introduction and has included various universes, listed below between the original Multiverse a ...

(cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * Enemy Ace (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * Gemworld (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) *

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

(cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) *

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Native Americans in the United States, Indian peoples and nations of North America, traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. Etymology The name comes from Powhatan langu ...

(cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * Sgt. Rock (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * Earth-86 (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) *

Space Cabbie Space Cabbie (also spelled Space Cabby) is a science fiction taxi driver in DC Comics. Publication history Space Cabbie first appeared in ''Mystery in Space'' #21 (August 1954) in a story scripted by Otto Binder and drawn by Howard Sherman. The c ...

(cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) *

Tangent In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is, intuitively, the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points o ...

(cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * 'Mazing Man (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) *

Sugar and Spike ''Sugar and Spike'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1956 through 1971, named after its main protagonists. The series was created, written, and drawn by Sheldon Mayer. Publication history The series was launched in ...

(cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * Stanley and His Monster (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * '' DC One Million'' (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) *

Warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

(cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * Super-Turtle (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) *

Earth-12 The DC Animated Universe (DCAU, also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans) is a Shared universe, shared fictional universe based on DC Comics properties and media franchise produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It began with ''Batman ...

(cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * O.M.A.C. (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * ''

Batman Beyond ''Batman Beyond'' (also known as ''Batman of the Future'' in Europe) is an American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, and serving as the sequel to both '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and '' The New Ba ...

'' (cameo only, art by Ty Templeton) * '' Kingdom Come'' (art by

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book creator, comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which ...

)

Illustrators

Illustrators for ''Superman and Batman: World's Funnest'' include:

Plot

Worlds/universes

Illustrators

See also